PressTV-US says Saudi version of Khashoggi murder ‘not credible’

The United States says Saudi Arabia’s version of the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi is not credible and Riyadh must identify and punish the perpetrators and planners of the killing.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will emphasize the need for accountability and credibility in the investigation of Khashoggi’s death during a visit next week to the Middle East, including to Riyadh, a senior US State Department official said on Friday.

“The Secretary has been very consistent in engagements with Saudis …to really push the two points of accountability and credibility, which is that the Saudis should have a credible narrative for what happened,” said the official, who briefed reporters on Pompeo’s trip.

“I don’t think from our point of view that the narrative emerging from the Saudis or the legal process has yet hit that threshold of credibility and accountability,” the official said.